Everyday Chefs – Sharul

‘Everyday Chefs’ is about showcasing people of all walks of life, and having them use our signature pastes to create any dish from their creativity. The aim of this series is to create a community of people sharing their joy in the kitchen, showcasing the versatility of our paste, and encouraging creativity. From beginners to advanced chefs, we want to show that cooking can be made easy, quick, and delicious. The most important thing of course, is to have fun while you’re at it.

Sharul with his daughter, Zia June.

Masak-masak.

Sharul is an art director and full time father to a 3 year old and a nearly 1 year old.

Since having two beautiful children, how often do you have home cooked meals?Thanks, they are beautiful. I wish they could have beautifully home cooked food served everyday too, but that’s not the case on most weekdays. Having a freshly homemade meal before 8pm is almost impossible for us. So, I try to precook some weekday dinner meal items over the weekend.

What comes to mind when preparing food for you and your kids?I like the idea of having a “fancy” meal served at home. So I begin by having a cuisine in mind, followed by what the cuisine predominantly tastes like, then a protein and sides that go along with it. I also enjoy plating and consider the sizing of portions served.

Would you say you are an adventurous home-cook?I’m not sure. I rarely get into the science area of cooking and most often follow the tongue. The “adventure” begins when you start questioning your dish and the tongue takes the lead after. Too spicy, here comes sugar. Needs some acidity, perhaps some asam. Not sure if its cooked? Taste. What’s this at the back of the fridge, hmm maybe not? Taste taste taste.

Do you have any nostalgic memories in the kitchen when you were a child?

I cracked an egg onto a plate, poured some kicap and pepper and enjoyed what I thought was how mom prepared soft boiled eggs in the morning. Yucks...

Almost every boy’s nostalgic memory is his mom’s cooking. I love every single dish my mom makes. Just to name a few hits, she cooked mostly Malay dishes like ayam bawang kicap hitam (Chicken with onions and sweet soy sauce), ketam lemak lada (Crab with spicy chilli coconut gravy), ikan sepat lemak (Salted sepat fish in chilli coconut gravy and pineapples). Shiok.

Rendang Rice Burger

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

The Rice “Bun”:Cook 2 cups of rice. Clump the cooked rice together into a palm size shallow bowl and place cling wrap over the top of the rice.Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Remove the rice from the bowl and fry until some parts turns brown.

The Patty:Mix egg yolk into minced beef mix, seasoned with some salt and grounded black pepper. Shape patty slightly wider than the rice “bun”. Fry the patty each side up to 2-4 minutes until well-browned.

The Sauce: Stir-fry sliced onions with bay leaf.Add about 3tbs of Batu Lesung Rendang Rempah onto the pan of onions and continue to stir fry. (Add a little water if the sauce gets too thick.)

SPICY CHICKEN NOODLE BURGER

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

The Ramen “Bun”:Boil the egg noodles.Clump the cooked egg noodles into a palm size shallow bowl.Add egg yolk and place cling wrap over the top of the noodles.Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.Remove the noodles from bowl and fry until some parts turns brown.

The Patty: Mix egg yolk into minced chicken mix, seasoned with some salt and grounded black pepper. Shape patty slightly wider than the noodle “bun”. Fry the patty each side up to 1-3 minutes until well-browned.

The Sauce: Stir-fry sliced onions.Add about 3tbs of Batu Lesung Panggang BBQ Marinade onto the pan of onions and continue to stir fry. (Add a little water if the sauce gets too thick.)